EMDs

Affiliate X · Mar 1, 2012

I want to rank for a very low competition keyword and the EMDs are all taken but none of them are being used. There is a variation of the EMD that I could use that would only involve adding one extra letter to the EMD. Would this rank well considering that none of the EMDs are active and I am only adding one letter?

reallife · Mar 1, 2012

Affiliate X said:
I want to rank for a very low competition keyword and the EMDs are all taken but none of them are being used. There is a variation of the EMD that I could use that would only involve adding one extra letter to the EMD. Would this rank well considering that none of the EMDs are active and I am only adding one letter?

Would it rank well? Impossible to say, depends on what you do to rank it, the competition, and so on.
Is it the best alternative for you? Sounds like it is - try to make it an unobtrusive letter and add it to the end, not the beginning.

jaso009 · Mar 1, 2012

Yeah try adding something like an x to the end of your keyword.

michaelr1988 · Mar 1, 2012

I have used hyphen on some of my sites and had no problem ranking it. Its fine as long as you have low comp

Affiliate X · Mar 1, 2012

reallife said:
Would it rank well? Impossible to say, depends on what you do to rank it, the competition, and so on.
Is it the best alternative for you? Sounds like it is - try to make it an unobtrusive letter and add it to the end, not the beginning.

To clarify, I am asking if i would still get similar ranking benefits as with an EMD since none of the actual EMDs are being used for this keyword. Assuming that I am doing everything else correctly.

thedon23 · Mar 1, 2012

I do believe that the majority of an EMD advantage comes from, well, having the exact EMD. But also, in my experience, having the keyword + variation is better than simply having a random domain with the keyword NOT in it. So, I'd say go for it.

Mountaineer · Mar 1, 2012

Did you check if hyphenated version of EMD is available? It should be a better choice as compared to EMD+Extra word.

reallife · Mar 1, 2012

Affiliate X said:
To clarify, I am asking if i would still get similar ranking benefits as with an EMD since none of the actual EMDs are being used for this keyword. Assuming that I am doing everything else correctly.

No guarantees, of course, but it's as close as you're going to come. It's the right thing to do.

hurn · Mar 1, 2012

Actual EMD have more value because google is giving more value to brand names. But you can rank with a non EMD domain and need to put extra effort.

phpbuilt · Mar 1, 2012

When a domain of .com, .net or .org is the exact match for a keyword, it gets a boost and ranks more easily. Adding anything to it (dashes, prefix, suffix) negates any boost you might get for an EMD.

Ranking EMD + an extra letter is no different in my opinion than trying to rank a domain that doesn't even have the keyword in it. So it is better to go with a quirky name if it looks better or is more brandable.

reallife · Mar 1, 2012

phpbuilt said:
When a domain of .com, .net or .org is the exact match for a keyword, it gets a boost and ranks more easily. Adding anything to it (dashes, prefix, suffix) negates any boost you might get for an EMD.

Ranking EMD + an extra letter is no different in my opinion than trying to rank a domain that doesn't even have the keyword in it. So it is better to go with a quirky name if it looks better or is more brandable.

If you're going for brandable, that's a different issue. It didn't sound like OP is looking in that direction. My experience is that the EMD + an extra letter or short word (I go with hq a lot, so that the site becomes "EMD Headquarters" but I've also done OK by adding "x") does better than an unrelated name, unless the unrelated name is on an aged domain.

flc735 · Mar 1, 2012

if its a 2 part word, your better off with the hyphen than an extra letter. adding a letter is the same thing as adding a word, it becomes a different kw
either way, i think you can still get a partial bonus but the partial is closer to +5% than +50%

mdsurf · Mar 1, 2012

If its extremely low competition you probably dont even need the emd because remember your ranking a website not a domain

Affiliate X · Mar 1, 2012

reallife said:
If you're going for brandable, that's a different issue. It didn't sound like OP is looking in that direction. My experience is that the EMD + an extra letter or short word (I go with hq a lot, so that the site becomes "EMD Headquarters" but I've also done OK by adding "x") does better than an unrelated name, unless the unrelated name is on an aged domain.

I have been checking a ton of other keywords with fairly large search numbers and very low competition, like the one I am targeting, and the results are showing that what you are saying is correct. Domains with the keyword in it definitely carry a lot of weight in these areas.

I am finding websites in the 1st and 2nd position for keywords with almost 1k exact searches but very low competition that resemble the garbage you used to find while searching in the 80's. I have found everything except the "under construction" pages you used to be able to find on the first page of a search back then, and the only thing they offered was a partial EMD. Some even have multiple words added to the EMD.

So to the people claiming that if it isn't an exact EMD it doesn't carry any weight, you are definitely wrong.

Affiliate X · Mar 1, 2012

Hyphenated ones don't seem to compete as well as ones with added letters or words among shitty sites with little else to offer other than a partial EMD.

Affiliate X · Mar 1, 2012

phpbuilt said:
When a domain of .com, .net or .org is the exact match for a keyword, it gets a boost and ranks more easily. Adding anything to it (dashes, prefix, suffix) negates any boost you might get for an EMD.

Ranking EMD + an extra letter is no different in my opinion than trying to rank a domain that doesn't even have the keyword in it. So it is better to go with a quirky name if it looks better or is more brandable.

I appreciate your reply to my thread, but your answer is really wrong. In low competition areas I am seeing tons of proof that the opposite is true.

420friendly · Mar 1, 2012

I would try and contact the .com owner and make a deal, I feel having the EMD in .com is HUGE!

J0kerz · Mar 1, 2012

phpbuilt said:
When a domain of .com, .net or .org is the exact match for a keyword, it gets a boost and ranks more easily. Adding anything to it (dashes, prefix, suffix) negates any boost you might get for an EMD.

Ranking EMD + an extra letter is no different in my opinion than trying to rank a domain that doesn't even have the keyword in it. So it is better to go with a quirky name if it looks better or is more brandable.

Dude, you have NO idea what you are talking about.

I saw one of your post in another thread and almost laugh when reading it. Then, I came to this thread and saw that you post this non-sense. I just had to reply.

@OP: As long as you are building a niche website (where you are not looking to develop a brand), try to get your keyword in the domain name even if you add extra words,letters to it.

Actually, your best bet would be to get a domaine name that looks like an established brand from a layman point of view + have your keyword (or part of it) in it . That way, your website wont look as scammy as other EMD.

Something along the lines of keyworldWORLD.com / keywordAREA.com / etc..

Tensegrity · Mar 1, 2012

phpbuilt said:
When a domain of .com, .net or .org is the exact match for a keyword, it gets a boost and ranks more easily. Adding anything to it (dashes, prefix, suffix) negates any boost you might get for an EMD.

Ranking EMD + an extra letter is no different in my opinion than trying to rank a domain that doesn't even have the keyword in it. So it is better to go with a quirky name if it looks better or is more brandable.

Just out of curiosity, are you basing this on hundreds of experiments or just 5 or 6?

krzysiekz · Mar 1, 2012

J0kerz said:
Something along the lines of keyworldWORLD.com / keywordAREA.com / etc..

This could also help you in ranking #1 indirectly, as if you're ranking #2 or #3 and you have a well branded domain, sort of like XXXWORLD.COM or XXXAREA.COM then it may help with your click-thru rates - which in the long run may help you in securing that #1 spot.

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